Definition of Ebola virus

Ebola Virus: A notoriously deadly virus that causes fearsome symptoms, the
most prominent being high fever and
massive internal
bleeding.
Ebola
virus kills as many as 90% of the people it infects. It is one of the
viruses that is capable of causing hemorrhagic (bloody) fever.

Epidemics of Ebola virus have occurred mainly in African countries including
Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Gabon, Uganda, the Ivory Coast,
and Sudan. Ebola virus is a hazard to laboratory workers and, for that matter,
anyone who is exposed to it. The Ebola virus gained widespread attention in the
fall of 2014 when an outbreak in West Africa became the largest outbreak
reported in history. In this outbreak, imported case from Liberia and associated
locally acquired cases in health-care workers were identified in the U.S.
Infection with Ebola virus in humans is incidental -- humans do not "carry" the
virus. The way in which the virus first appears in a human at the start of an
outbreak has not been determined. However, it has been hypothesized that the
first patient (the index case) becomes infected through contact with an infected
animal.

Ebola virus is transmitted by contact with blood, feces, or body fluids from
an infected person or by direct contact with the virus, as in a laboratory.
People can be exposed to Ebola virus from direct contact with the blood or
secretions of an infected person. This is why the virus has often been spread
through the families and friends of infected persons: in the course of feeding,
holding, or otherwise caring for them, family members and friends would come
into close contact with such secretions. People can also be exposed to Ebola
virus through contact with objects, such as needles, that have been contaminated
with infected secretions.

The incubation period --the period between contact with the virus and the
appearance of symptoms -- ranges from 2 to 21 days.

The initial symptoms are usually high fever, headache,
muscle aches, stomach pain, and diarrhea.
There may also be
sore
throat, hiccups,
and red and itchy eyes. The symptoms that tend to follow include:
vomiting,
rash, and bleeding
problems that include bloody nose (epistaxis), spitting up blood from the lungs
(hemoptysis), vomiting blood from the stomach (hematemesis), and bloody eyes
(conjunctival hemorrhages). Then finally come chest
pain, shock, and
death.

A protein on the surface of the virus has been discovered that is responsible
for the severe internal bleeding (the death-dealing feature of the disease). The
protein attacks and destroys the endothelial cells lining blood vessels, causing
the vessels to leak and bleed.

There is no specific treatment for the disease. Currently, patients receive
supportive therapy. This consists of balancing the patient's fluids and
electrolytes,
maintaining their oxygen level and blood pressure, and treating them for any
complicating infections. Death can occur within 10 days of the onset of
symptoms.

The prevention of
the spread of Ebola fever involves practical viral
hemorrhagic fever isolation precautions, or barrier nursing techniques.
These techniques include the wearing of protective clothing, such as masks,
gloves, gowns, and goggles; the use of infection-control measures, including
complete equipment sterilization; and the isolation of Ebola fever patients from
contact with unprotected persons. The aim of all of these techniques is to avoid
any person's contact with the blood or secretions of any patient. If a patient
with Ebola fever dies, it is equally important that direct contact with the body
of the deceased patient be prevented.

Bioterrorism --
There has been concern about Ebola virus as a possible weapon for bioterrorism.
However, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the US
Congress, in a 1999 report considered Ebola virus to be an "unlikely" biologic
threat for terrorism, because the virus is very difficult to obtain and process,
unsafe to handle, and relatively unstable.